1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to valve services boxes, more commonly known as curb boxes, which generally have an upper portion having at least one pair of telescoping tubular members and a lower tubular member having a housing formed thereon for encasement of a valve buried beneath the surface of the ground.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Valve service boxes, commonly known as curb boxes, are well known in the art. Modern valve boxes are generally fabricated of some suitable plastic, such as either a filled or unfilled ABS. The upper portion comprises generally a pair of telescoping tubular members cooperative with a lower member which defines a valve housing. The lower member fits over the valve housing protecting the valve and maintaining the valve in a proper position while allowing the underground utility, gas, water or the like, to extend outwardly from the valve.
The size of the valves used by utility companies, and the size and material used with the underground utility lines has undergone great development over the past years. This development of valve and valve materials and pipe materials has been the impetus for the development of certain developments in valve service boxes as evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,143 for a valve service box which engaged a portion of the valve and pipe in order to prevent the torsional twisting of the valve; U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,056 which allowed the valve box to accommodate two different sized valves; U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,494 which provided a selective means for allowing the housing member of the valve box to be sized to fit different sized valves. Each of the aforementioned patents were developed by and assigned to the assignee of the instant application.
The underground utility industry has in recent years become more competitive and have sought to find the lowest cost for valve models and sizes which meet the testing requirements for the utility. Therefore, instead of standardizing all of the valves in a system, the utility companies now find themselves utilizing valves from different manufacturers, perhaps along the same utility line path and each of the valves may have a radically different physical geometry so that one valve box model cannot accommodate the full range of valve models and sizes which meet the testing requirements and are approved by the utility company and purchased by the utility company.
The utility company then finds itself having to maintain a large inventory of valve service boxes to accommodate the different physical geometries of the valves.
In most instances, it is only the lower portion of the valve box, namely, the valve housing portion which must vary in order to accommodate the valve, but thus far in the industry, the telescoping tubular members which extend upwardly to the ground surface from the housing member are manufactured integrally with the housing member and thus are designed for use with one particular housing member. The utility company must therefore maintain an inventory of complete valve service boxes including the telescoping tubular members as well as the housing member for each valve that it maintains in its inventory which is approved for use.
The present invention of Applicant relates to an improved valve service box assembly in which the housing member is designed to fit each specific type and size of valve, but the telescoping tubular section is modified such that the tubular member engaging the housing member can fit a plurality of different sized housing members which thereby standardizes that portion of the valve service box which extends upwardly from the housing member. In this type of configuration, it would be possible for the manufacturer to manufacture the housing member and include the housing member in the sale of the valve and package the housing member with the valve. The utility then only needs to maintain an inventory of the novel telescoping tubular members as set forth herein which can be adapted to any one of a plurality of valves and the respective housing member which accompanies the valve at the point of sale.